a brief history of free space optical communications

7/27/2019 A Brief History of Free Space Optical Communications

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A Brief History of Free Space Optical Communications

The history of optical communications starts with using light for the dissemination of news

through what we could decipher with our own eyes, and over time technology was developed to

allow us to transmit and receive signals from increasing distances. Some of the early incarnations

included beacon fires, smoke signals, signal markers and light houses. The achievable range was

greatly increased through the use of relay stations, such as with Chappes optical telegraph system

for the French military during the early 1800s (Figure 1). Here, a series of mechanical lighted

structures spaced 11 km apart could relay a message over 135 km in one minute, and reproduce 196

distinct symbols.

Figure 1: Claude Chappes optical telegraph

Later during the 1800s the optical telegraph system was widely adopted in both the

European and US railway systems in the form of semaphore signalling. In 1880, Alexander Graham

Bell patented what he referred to as his greatest invention, the photo phone (Figure 2). This system

modulated human conversations onto visible light, and demonstrated transmission across distancesup to 200 m. This achievement may be thought of as a very early predecessor to our modern fiber

optic communications systems, and legs of the system are still operational today.


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Figure 2: Photo phone transmitter and receiver set

Similar variations of the simple essence of these early forms of optical communication still

exist today. The Navy has long used a signal lantern intermittently covered with a shutter as a way to

pass Morse code messages between vessels during periods of radio silence [1]. Modern Air Traffic

Control (ATC) towers still maintain a multi-colored light gun as a backup device in case of radio

failure, and all pilots are versed in these procedures to accomplish safe queuing and landing in such

an event. In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employs a series of brightly colored

Fresnel lens instruments called Precision Approach Path Indicators (PAPI) which provide a landing

pilot visual feedback for the position of their aircraft relative to the optimal 3 degree glide slope [2].

These instruments are especially useful during night and carrier operations where visual distortion is

at its highest, and may be visible for several nautical miles away depending on the atmosphericconditions.

Figure 3: Left: Naval signal lamp for transmitting Morse code, Right: PAPI indicating glide slope of

approaching aircraft.


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In the consumer electronics area, the first wireless remote control for television was

introduced by Zenith as the Flash Matic system in 1955 (Figure 4). This system used four corner

photocells to control the functionality of the set, and later evolved into the infrared remote control

systems that are commonly used today.

Figure 4: Advertisement for the Zenith optical remote control

The advantages of high energy density and narrow beam width of the laser make it a natural

candidate for free space optical communication applications. These properties allow for the

propagation path of a laser communications link to extend farther than with conventional lamps,favorably suggesting space-based communications applications.

significant share of the early laser telecommunication and laser atmospheric propagation

studies were conducted in the 1970s and 1980s in the development of military electro-optic

instruments, laser radar systems and secure communication data links. Several laser FSO

communication systems were developed in the 1980s for secure ship-to-ship communication and

ground-to-aircraft applications. During the past decade, a number of secure laser communication

systems for groundto- satellite and satellite-to-satellite use were developed and launched.2 Most of

these early Defense Department systems:

were designed to be used for long-range (50-1000 km) communication links;

used either high power (1-200 W) 10-_m-wavelength CO2 lasers, 1.06- _m-Nd:YAG lasers, 0.85-

_m-GaAs lasers, or 1.5-_m-diode/Er:fiber-amplifier lasers;

involved complex tracking systems, multiple detector receivers or adaptive optics to compensate

for atmospheric turbulence;

often were not considered eye safe.


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In 1992, a breakthrough demonstration called the Galileo Optical Experiment (GOPEX)

demonstrated the ability to point ground-based lasers precisely to objects in deep space, and to sense

long-distance optical pulses. Both the Jet Propulsion Laboratorys (JPL) Table Mountain Facility

and the Starfire Optical Range (SOR) at Kirtland Air Force base in Albuquerque, New Mexico were

used to illuminate the charge coupled device (CCD) camera on board the Galileo spacecraft at a

range of six million kilometres . The optical pulses were successfully detected and then retransmitted

back to the ground for validation using the conventional spacecraft RF downlink.

A demonstrated study into atmospheric propagation effects has been made with the European

Semiconductor Laser Inter satellite Link Experiment (SILEX), in which one link leg consisted of a

148 km horizontal terrestrial path along the sea between the Canary Islands . The program utilized

0.79, 0.87, 1.064, 1.3 and 10.2 m laser wavelengths with up to 50 Mbps data rates, and

measurements of absorption, scattering, scintillations and turbulence were made. The signal strength

and noise components from the SILEX experiments across a 148 km terrestrial link are plotted

simultaneously, and it can be seen that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) when the sun is in the field of

view (FOV) of the receiver is approximately 25 dB, for the case when atmospheric attenuation is at

4.5 dB.

In a more recent measurement program conducted by the Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory (LLNL), a 28 km laser link employing an adaptive optical system was operated in

Northern California. Measurements of the wave front distortion were made at the receiver, and

deformable mirror elements actuated by Micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) corrected for the

turbulence in the atmosphere. This approach achieved a reduction in the bit-error-rate (BER) of the

signal, and a data rate of 20 Gbps was achieved.


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In 2005, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agencys (JAXA) Optical Inter satellite

Communications Engineering Test Satellite (OICETS) KIRARI in LEO and the European Space

Agencys (ESA) Advanced Relay and Technology Mission (ARTEMIS) satellite in GEO

successfully established an optical inter satellite communications link [10]. Since then, the optical

service has operated regularly and accumulated more than 1100 links totalling 230 hours to date,

achieving 2 Mbps forward and 50 Mbps return links.

Figure 6: ARTEMIS and OICETS optically linked

The maximum distance record for laser communications transmission was set in 2006 by

NASA Goddard Space Flight Centers (GSFC) Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory in

Maryland, which successfully communicated with the Messenger spacecraft across a distance of

approximately 25 million km .Messenger was outfitted with a Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), an

instrument designed to map Mercury's surface, and this was used to exchange laser pulses with theobservatory to demonstrate two-way deep space optical communication. The success of this

technology demonstration laid the groundwork for a proposed Mars Telecommunications Orbiter

(MTO) spacecraft to serve as a high speed optical data link for relaying scientific information back to

Earth from the other Mars orbiter and lander assets, but unfortunately the program was cancelled due

to funding problems .

In a more terrestrial accomplishment, within a few days of the World Trade Center collapse in

New York which severed many crucial fiber optic systems, high speed communication services werere established to surrounding businesses clients through deploying rooftop FSO systems from Light


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pointe Communications, Inc. The systems feature multi-Gb/s service across 1 km or better,

depending on the atmospheric conditions. The ability to quickly establish a backup network in an

emergency situation demonstrates the flexibility and rapid deployment capability of the FSO system,

and its ability to reduce downtime during periods of construction and repair.

Figure 7: FSO communications system deployed in an urban environment

Finally, during the Navys Trident Warrior 2006 sea trial experiment, ship-to-ship laser

communications was demonstrated as a way to evaluate the utility of the capability and quantify the

performance of the systems. During the trial the 2 W 1550 nm laser communication terminals were

able to demonstrate fast Ethernet (125 Mbps) transmission to successfully send large data, movie and

audio files, as well as enable live ship-to-ship video teleconferencing between the USS Denver and

the USS Bonhomme at ranges from 2.5 to 11 nm . A two level PAT system nulled out the ships

motion, and provided lock onto the other terminal. This was the first demonstration of ship-to-ship

laser communications on operational US Navy ships at sea, and resulted in over 10 hours of

successful 300 Mbps audio and video links at ranges up to 9.5 nm in the rain. Improvements based

on lessons learned from this exercise should allow links to the horizon (


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Figure 8: Novasol bistatic laser comm terminal aboard the USS Denver

An example in Istanbul Turkey shows that an urban FSO network connecting nodes 1.2 - 2.3

km apart offering 155 Mbps high-speed access to customers only costs $1.4 million compared to the

$78.5 million cost of laying optical fiber. A market study report in 2007 predicts that the

consumption of point-to-point FSO systems will grow from $13.68 million to $15.77 million in

North America, and from $50.55 million to $58.89 million in the global market in the period of

2009-2011.

WHY WE GOING FOR FSO?:

The increasing demand for high bandwidth in metro networks is relentless, and service

providers' pursuit of a range of applications, including metro network extension, enterprise LAN-to-

LAN connectivity, wireless backhaul and LMDS supplement has created an imbalance. This

imbalance is often referred to as the "last mile bottleneck." Service providers are faced with the need

to turn up services quickly and cost effectively at a time when capital expenditures are constrained.


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But the last mile bottleneck is only part of a larger problem. Similar issues exist in other parts of the

metro networks. "Connectivity bottleneck" better addresses the core dilemma. As any network

planner will tell you, the connectivity bottleneck is everywhere in metro networks.

From a technology standpoint, there are several options to address this "connectivity

bottleneck," but most don't make economic sense. The first, most obvious choice is fiber-optic cable.

Without a doubt, fiber is the most reliable means of providing optical communications. But the

digging, delays and associated costs to lay fiber often make it economically prohibitive. Moreover,

once fiber is deployed, it becomes a "sunk" cost and cannot be re-deployed if a customer relocates or

switches to a competing service provider, making it extremely difficult to recover the investment in a

reasonable timeframe.

Comparison of Free Space Optical and Radio frequency technologies:

Traditionally, wireless technology is almost always associated with radio transmission,

although transmission by carriers other than RF waves, such as optical waves, might be more

advantageous for certain applications. The principal advantage of FSO technology is very high

bandwidth availability, which could provide broadband wireless extensions to Internet backbones

providing service to end-users. This could enable the prospect of delay-free web browsing and data

library access, electronic commerce, streaming audio and video, video on- demand, video

teleconferencing, real-time medical imaging transfer, enterprise networking and work-sharing

capabilities, which could require as much as a 100 Mbps data rate on a sustained basis.

In addition, FSO permits the use of narrow divergence, directional laser beams, which if

deployed appropriately, offer essentially very secure channels with low probability of interception or

detection (LPI/LPD). Narrow FSO beams also have considerable obscuration penetrating capability.

For example, penetration of dense fog over a kilometer distance is quite feasible at Gbps data rates

with beam divergence of 0.1mrad. The tight antenna patterns of FSO links allow considerable spatial

re-use, and wireless networks using such connectivity are highly scalable, in marked contrast to ad-

hoc RF networks, which are intrinsically non-scalable .


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However, FSO has some drawbacks as well. Since a LOS path is required from transmitter to

receiver, narrow beam point-to-point FSO links are subject to atmospheric turbulence and

obscuration from clouds, fog, rain, and causing performance degradation and possible loss of

connectivity. In addition, FSO links can have a relatively short range, because the noise from

ambient light is high, and also because the square-law nature of direct detection receiver doubles the

effective path loss (in dB) when compared to a linear detector. Table 1.1 summarizes the difference

between FSO and RF technologies.

Free Space Optical Communication SystemsThe major subsystems in an FSO communication system are illustrated in Fig. A source

producing data input is to be transmitted to a remote destination. This source has its outputmodulated onto an optical carrier; typically laser, which is then transmitted as an optic al field


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through the atmospheric channel. The important aspects of the optical transmitter system are size,

power, and beam quality, which determine laser intensity and minimum divergence obtainable from

the system. At the receiver, the field is optically collected and detected, generally in the presence of

noise interference, signal distortion, and background radiation. On the receiver side, important

features are the aperture size and the f/-number, which determine the amount of the collected light

and the detector field-of-view (FOV).

The modulation of the source data onto the electromagnetic wave carrier generally takes

place in three different ways: amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), or phase

modulation (PM), each of which can be theoretically implemented at any frequency. For an optical

wave, another modulation scheme is also often used, namely intensity modulation (IM). Intensity

is defined as flow energy per unit area per unit time expressed in W/m2 , and is proportional to the

square of the field amplitude. The light fields from laser sources then pass beam forming optics to

produce a collimated beam. This practice is equivalent to providing antenna gain in RF systems.

There are two basic types of optical receivers: non-coherent receivers and coherent receivers.

Non-coherent receivers directly detect the instantaneous power of the collected optical field as it

arrives at the receivers, thus are often called direct or power detection receivers. These receivers

represent the simplest type of implementation and can be used whenever the transmitted information

occurs in the power variation (i.e. IM) of the optical field. Coherent receivers, better known as

heterodyne receivers, optically mix a locally generated light wave field with the received field, and

the combined wave is photo detected. These receivers are used when information is modulated onto

the optical carrier using AM, FM, or PM, and are essential for FM or PM detection.

The detection of optical fields is effected by various noise sources present at the receiver. The

three dominant sources in FSO communications are: background ambient light, photo detectorinduced noise, and electronic thermal noise in circuits. Although background radiation may be


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reduced by the use of optical filtering, it still provides significant interference in the detection

process. The detector quantum noise originates from the randomness of the photon counting process

at the photo detector. The thermal noise can be modelled as additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN),

whose spectral level is directly proportional to the receiver temperature.

FREE SPACE OPTICS (FSO) ISSUES

Free space optical communications is now established as a viable approach for addressing the

emerging broadband access market and its last mile bottleneck. These robust systems, which

establish communication links by transmitting laser beams directly through the atmosphere, have

matured to the point that mass-produced models are now available. Optical wireless systems offer

many features, principal among them being low start-up and operational costs, rapid deployment, and

high fiber-like bandwidths. These systems are compatible with a wide range of applications and

markets, and they are sufficiently flexible as to be easily implemented using a variety of different

architectures. Because of these features, market projections indicate healthy growth for optical

wireless sales. Although simple to deploy, optical wireless transceivers are sophisticated devices.

The many sub-systems require a multi-faceted approach to system engineering that balances the

variables to produce the optimum mix. A working knowledge of the issues faced by an optical

wireless system engineer provides a foundation for understanding the differences between the

various systems available. The different elements considered by the system engineer when designing

the product are discussed below.

WHICH WAVELENGTH?

Currently available Free Space Optics (FSO) hardware can be classified into two categories

depending on the operating wavelength systems that operate near 800 nm and those that operate

near 1550 nm. There are compelling reasons for selecting 1550 nm Free Space Optics (FSO) systems

due to laser eye safety, reduced solar background radiation, and compatibility with existing

technology infrastructure.

EYE-SAFETY

Laser beams with wavelengths in the range of 400 to 1400 nm emit light that passes through

the cornea and lens and is focused onto a tiny spot on the retina while wavelengths above 1400 nm

are absorbed by the cornea and lens, and do not focus onto the retina, as illustrated in Figure 1. It is

possible to design eye-safe laser transmitters at both the 800 nm and 1550 nm wavelengths but the

allowable safe laser.


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power is about fifty times higher at 1550 nm. This factor of fifty is important as it provides

up to 17 dB additional margin, allowing the system to propagate over longer distances, through

heavier attenuation, and to support higher data rates.

To select the best wavelength to use for free-space optical communication systems, you

must consider several factors, such as availability of components, eye safety considerations, required

transmission distance, price, and so on. The availability of components is light sources and detectors.

Eye safety is one of the most important restrictions to the optical power level emitted by a wireless

IR transmitter. Lasers of much higher power can be used more safely with 1550 nm systems than

with 850 nm and 780 nm systems. This is because wavelengths is less than about 1400 nm focused

by the human cornea into a concentrated spot falling on the retina as shown in Fig. ,which can cause

eye damage.

Fig. Penetration of Light into Eyeball

The allowable safe laser power is about 50 times higher at 1550 nm. This factor, 50 is

important as it provides up to 17 dB additional margin, allowing the system to propagate over longer

distances, through heavier attenuation, and to support higher data rates . However, 1550 nm systems

are at least 10 times more expensive than 850 nm systems .The highest data rate available with

commercial 850 nm systems is 622 Mbps, and 2.5 Gbps for 1550 nm systems.

BAND WIDTH

Military operations demand secure, relevant, and timely information. For this reason,

information superiority on the battlefield is one of the first objectives. Large


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volumes of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) imagery and video are increasingly

being sent from sensors to shooters. Faster data links are needed for faster response timelines. Also,

new missions may be enabled, like the sending of video instead of still imagery, or the sending of

higher quality imagery and video. With faster links, all of this can be achieved while still meeting the

required response times. FSO systems operate at significantly higher frequencies than the other RF

systems of today. Therefore, they have the potential of reducing the timeline for delivering

information. This section looks at the implications of operating in the EMR bands used for FSO.

1. Higher Frequencies

A signal of higher frequency can potentially send data at a higher rate. If the distortion and

attenuation effects of the atmosphere are non-existent, then the data rate theoretically possible from

an electro-magnetic radiation (EMR) wave is directly proportional to its frequency (called the

carrier). Of course, suitable modulation schemes need developing to take advantage of this carrier

frequency. Table 1 gives an indicative range of frequencies for the different EMR bands.

The radio and microwave bands are widely used today for wireless communication. Above

the frequency of 3 Terahertz (3.0 1012 Hz) starts the infrared band. Visible light takes up a small

range of frequencies above infrared (2.0 1014 to 4.3 1014 Hz) while ultraviolet radiation has the

highest frequencies of the optical wavelengths (7.5 1014 to 6.0 1016 Hz).

Many of the FSO systems available today operate in the near infrared band, which has a

frequency range on the order of magnitude of 1014 Hz. Comparing this with microwave frequencies

(magnitude of 109 to 1012 Hz), FSO systems in the near infrared band can potentially provide a 100

to 100,000 times higher data rate than the microwave radios we have today. Of course, this depends

on the type of modulation used (i.e. how the carrier is changed or varied so that it becomes an

information-bearing signal). LightPointes [LightPointe 2003] FlightApex is one of the highest


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bandwidth commercially available FSO products today. It uses lasers at a frequency of almost

200Terahertz (2 1014 Hz) to achieve full-duplex speeds of 2.5 Gbps for distances of up to 1km.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has demonstrated an FSO link of

the same data (2.5 Gbps) over a distance of 28 km. With the help of wavelength division

multiplexing (WDM), the LLNL had previously managed to scale the capacity of an FSO link to 20

Gbps between buildings. Tony Ruggeiro, principal investigator of the LLNL SATRN project, says

that they intend to further demonstrate a WDM link with an aggregate bit rate of 100 Gbps over a

distance of 28 km [Johnston 2002].

2. Modulation Schemes

The maximum data rate that can be transmitted does not solely depend on the frequency of

the signal used. A lot depends on the modulation scheme, which is how information is encoded

within the signal. FSO systems, not unlike the fiber optic cable networks of today, largely employ

on-off keying (OOK) modulation or some variant. OOK is where the presence of a signal represents

a binary 1, while the absence of the signal represents a binary 0. This presents a fundamental

limitation of sending one bit per period of the carrier.

B. SPECTRUM LICENSING

Mobile communications, computer data, radio stations, aircraft, taxis, and even astronauts

rely on radios to keep in touch with one another. Because this radio spectrum cannot be expanded, it

is coming under increased pressure to carry more and more communications. The worldwide

introduction of digital mobile communications is causing concerns of a spectrum drought on several

continents. Of late, industry comments have shown that spectrum and bandwidth will become a

tradable commodity in the near term, fetching high prices because of supply and demand.

The radio- frequency spectrum is the worlds natural resource, and it needs to be

well- managed to ensure that systems do not interfere with one another. The International

Telecommunication Union (ITU) regulates the use of radio frequencies throughout the world.

Nations are obligated to comply with the spectrum allocations specified in the ITU Radio

Regulations Article S5 (International Table of Frequency Allocations ). However, domestic

spectrum uses may differ from the international allocations provided these domestic uses do not

conflict with neighboring spectrum uses that do comply with international regulations or bi- lateral

agreements.

The World Radio communication Conference held in year 2000 (WRC-2000) extended the

mandate of the ITU radio regulations from 400 GHz to 1000 GHz (1 THz). Although the ITU did not

make any specific allocations to radio communication services, it has set a preliminary agenda to

review studies and consider allocations in the frequency bands above 275 GHz during WRC-2007.


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Therefore, the ITU does not currently regulate frequencies in the optical spectrum (above 3 THz),

although it is known that studies have begun on this [IARU 2002].

Most nations regulate the use of radio frequencies by requiring that the use of these

frequencies be licensed. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issues

these licenses. Obtaining a license may involve equipment tests (for intentional and unintentional

radiations), examinations for operators, and a license fee which pays for a license that will usually be

valid for a specified number of years. The FCC does not require a license for the Industrial,

Scientific, and Medical (ISM) bands (between 902 928 MHz and 2.4 2.484 GHz) and the

Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) bands (between 5.725 5.825 GHz).

However, the FCC rules as specified in Part 15 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations still

apply. Therefore, the use of microwave frequencies may require a license, and FCC rules should be

adhered to.

The ITU and the FCC do not control the use of optical frequencies, although it certainly may

in the years to come. FSO systems that have been deployed are still few and far between, and the

highly directional nature of optical transmissions imply that issues of interference would be rare.

Furthermore, optical signals are highly attenuated by the atmosphere. Therefore, the likelihood of a

stray optical signal interfering with another system is highly unlikely.

The need to control the use of FSO systems come from a safety aspect rather than managing

spectrum use. Laser safety is governed internationally by the International Electro technical

Commission (IEC), while within the United States, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health

(CDRH) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) ensure product and user safety

respectively. Laser safety will be discussed in much greater detail in a later section.

C. BIT ERROR RATE

There is disagreement in the industry as to whether the acronym BER stands for bit error rate

or bit error ratio. Proponents of the latter argue that BER is a measure of erroneous bits with respect

to the total number of bits transmitted, received, or processed. It is not a measure with respect to

time, and so, many deprecate the term bit error rate.

However, the term bit error rate is more popularly used in technical literatures. In this report, no

distinction is made between the two terms and they may be used interchangeably. Many papers have

been written (often by FSO vendors themselves) that FSO systems typically have lower BER than

other radio frequency (RF) communication systems. This may mislead a reader to infer that FSO is a

better technology than other RF systems. In actuality, the BER from a system does not depend on the

technology alone. It depends on the quality of the transmitted signal, the power used by the

transmitter, the resilience of the transmission over the medium, the distance between transmitter and


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receiver, the sensitivity of the receiver, the electronics involved, etc.

For example, a particular FSO system may be specified to have a much lower BER than an

RF system. However, the FSO system only operates over 1 km, while the RF system operates over 5

km. If the FSO transmitter and receiver were placed 5 km apart instead, the BER on the FSO system

would likely experience a much higher BER than that of the RF system. As another example, an FSO

system may be specified to have a lower BER than an RF system, and both operate over the same

distance. While this may be true on a clear day, this may not be so in the event of heavy fog. Once

again, the FSO system is likely to experience a much higher BER than the RF system. Therefore, it is

important to note that whatever BER values that are quoted for a communications system are specific

to that system, and may vary depending on factors such as distance and weather. Since it is not

possible to declare whether FSO or RF systems have better BER, this report will instead analyze the

issues that contribute to BER.

Obviously, FSO communication will not replace RF communication, rather they will co-

exist. Hybrid FSO/RF networks combine the advantages and avoid the disadvantages of FSO or RF

alone. Even if the FSO connectivity cannot be provided all the time, the aggregate data rate in such

networks is markedly greater than if RF links were used alone. RF alone does not have the band

width for the transfer of certain types of data, for example high-definition video quality full-spectrum

motion imagery. Hybrid wireless networks will provide maximum availability and capacity.

FREE-SPACE LOSS

Free space loss is the signal attenuation that is caused by beam divergence. It is a measure of

the transmitted signal that is received by the receiving antenna. Recall the example of a transmitter

and receiver which are 20 km apart. If the transmitter has a beam divergence of 2 degrees, then the

circle formed at the receivers end would have a radius of 349.1m. Theoretically, in order not to have

any free-space loss, the receiver could be built so that the entire received signal would be received by

the receiver. This would require the receiver to have a diameter of almost 700m! Even the largest

satellite dish on earth is less than 50m across.

Because of the way lasers are generated, and with the added use of collimators, lasers can be

constrained to very small divergence angles. In our example of a laser transmitter with a divergence

angle of 2 arc seconds, the receiver would need to be of radius 0.1m, or 10 cm, which is a practical

size for many deployments.

The general formula for free-space loss can be defined as:

( )


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If a microwave receiver of the same size as our laser receiver was used to receive the signal from the

microwave transmitter which has a divergence angle of 2 degrees, then

( )

=()()

()

== 0.99999992

Engineers experienced at calculating the free-space loss of RF and microwave systems will

know that free-space loss is traditionally calculated by first assuming isotropic (omni-directional)

antennas, and thereafter considering the directionality of the antennas by including the gain factors

for the transmitter and the receiver. It should be found that this is similar in concept to the abovecalculations where the beam divergence of the transmitter is known. Once again, the area of the

beam at the receiver is simplified to be that of a flat circle although in practice, it should be spherical

in shape. The above calculation is only meant to illustrate that low free-space loss can be attained by

FSO systems because of the low beam divergence.

POWER CONSUMPTION

The process of generating a highly coherent laser beam is usually very inefficient. The

neodymium (Nd:YAG) laser is only about one percent efficient, while the popular helium-neon (He-

Ne) laser is only about 0.001 percent efficient. Fortuitously, semiconductor lasers, which generate

light by direct conversion of electrical current to photons, are very efficient, achieving 20 to 50

percent efficiencies.

In comparison, power amplifiers for the Very Low Frequency (VLF) up to the High

Frequency (HF) bands are highly efficient, with conversion efficiencies from 85 to 90 percent.

However, Microwave amplifier biasing arrangements have typical conversion efficiencies of only

between 10 and 20 percent. Therefore, while microwave amplifiers are much more efficient than the

Nd:YAG and He-Ne lasers, they are generally less efficient than semiconductor lasers.

Researchers at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) have applied the methodologies

used in lower frequency amplifiers to the higher frequency microwave amplifiers to attain a 49.7%

direct current (DC) to radio frequency (RF) conversion efficiency [Obenshain 2003]. With this,

microwave amplifiers can equal or better the DCto- RF conversion efficiencies of semiconductor

lasers.

It is critical to determine where the remaining energy goes, which inevitably ends up as waste

heat and must be removed from the laser system. In some lasers, like the hydrogen fluoride (HF)


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laser, the exhaust gases carry away the heat. In other lasers, such as the Nd:YAG or semiconductor

laser, some method must be used to extract the heat from the laser, such as flowing cooled water

within the laser. If it is allowed to remain in the laser, the performance of the laser is likely to be

degraded or, in the extreme, the laser may be damaged. Dissipating heat in a spacecraft can pose

serious problems.

As analyzed in the previous section on bit error rate (BER), laser systems usually have lower

BER than other RF systems. This is due to the high spectral purity of laser signals which give laser

systems a high signal- to-noise ratio. In RF systems which desire a high signal-to-noise ratio (e.g.

QAM), much higher power is needed to attain low BER. Therefore, in order for an RF system to

have a BER value comparable to that in laser systems, much higher power consumption is needed.

Yet another reason why laser systems consume less power is because of the low free space

loss. Since lasers have small divergence angles, they are better able to focus the transmitted energy

towards the receiver for power-efficient communication. RF systems on the other hand, have much

higher divergence figures and hence much of the transmitted energy of RF systems does not reach

the receiver. This represents a waste of power, and hence more power needs to be consumed by the

RF transmitter in order for sufficient energy to reach the receiver.

Having low power consumption is especially important in mobile military platforms as the

power source is usually limited. This can mean lower fuel or battery consumption on planes and

ships, or a decreased solar array requirement for satellites. Typical power consumption figures for

communication lasers are from 100 mW to a few Watts for laser with output powers of 30 to 200

mW.

LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES

Effects of the Atmosphere:

The various gases in the atmosphere absorb and scatter EMR at different wavelengths and tovarious extents. Figure 24 illustrates an experiment which may have been carried out by students in a

physics class. This experiment starts off with a white light source being split into an even spectrum

of colors by a prism. However, when a glass canister containing a certain type of gas is placed

between the light source and the prism, dark bands are seen within the spectrum. These dark bands

represent the wavelengths of light which have been absorbed or scattered by the gas. It is also found

that different gases and particles absorb and scatter light at different wavelengths. Therefore, the

location of the dark bands is different when different gases and particles are used.


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a. Absorption

The above experiment illustrates the absorption and scattering of visible light. This

phenomenon applies similarly to the invisible light waves in the infrared and ultraviolet bands. One

main difference with infrared and ultraviolet light is that they are more readily absorbed by gases

which can be found in our atmosphere. Figure illustrates the absorptance of the various atmospheric

gases with respect to the wavelength of EMR.

b. Scatter ing

Other than absorbing light, the atmosphere scatters light as well. Scattering is caused by

atmospheric molecules or particles which have dimensions of the same order or smaller than the

wavelength of the incident light. For FSO, fog, haze and pollution (aerosols) are of concern because

of the closeness in size of these particles to the wavelengths used in FSO systems. There are three

forms of scattering: Raman, Rayleigh and Mie scattering.

Raman scattering is caused by atmospheric molecules or particles which are of sizes from

10% to 150% of the wavelength of the incident light. The photons of light interact with theseparticles in such a way that energy is either gained or lost. Since the energy of these photons

determine the frequency of light, Raman scattering causes light emissions which are of different

frequency from the incident light. The intensity of the scattered light due to Raman scattering is

much lower than that from Rayleigh scattering. The American Institute of Physics [Weber 2000]

approximates the magnitude of Raman scattering to be 106 to 108 times lower than that of Rayleigh

scattering. Raman scattering is usually negligible unless a powerful laser source is used.

Rayleigh scattering is caused by atmospheric molecules or particles which are of magnitude

less than 10% the wavelength of the incident light. The energy of the incident photons of light are

unchanged by these particles and therefore the emitted light is of the same frequency as the incident

light. The intensity of Rayleigh scattering is known to be:

where IS = intensity of scattering

I0incident intensity

polarizability of particle


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wavelength of incident radiation

rdistance, center of scattering to detector

angle incident /scattered ray

What is interesting about the Rayleigh scattering formula is that the intensity of Rayleighscattering is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the wavelength of the incident light. This

implies that light of shorter wavelength (higher frequency) experience substantially higher Rayleigh

scattering than light of longer wavelengths (lower frequency).

Rayleigh scattering explains the colors of the sky. Firstly, the atmosphere certainly scatters

the light from the sun. If it did not, then the sky would always look dark unless you are looking

directly at the sun. Blue light, which is of shorter wavelength, is more readily dispersed than red

light. Therefore, the sky looks blue during the day. During sunrise and sunset, the light from the sun

has to travel a much further distance. Light of shorter wavelength would already have been scattered

before it reaches an observer. Therefore, what the observer sees during sunrise and sunset are the

longer wavelengths of red, orange, and/or yellow.

Rayleigh scattering depends on the size of the scattering particles (magnitude needs to be less

than 10% of wavelength). Therefore, using the Rayleigh formula to compare the scattering intensities

for microwave and FSO is difficult because of the big difference in wavelengths. However,

comparing the scattering intensities of different wavelengths within the FSO band is possible since

the difference in magnitude of the wavelengths within this band is not large. Knowing that the

wavelengths of FSO systems in the near- infrared band range from 0.7 to 1.5 microns, the maximum

difference in Rayleigh scattering intensity within the near-infrared band would be:

This means that even if two different frequencies within the near-infrared band were carefully

chosen so that they have equally low absorption by the atmosphere, the range of the higher-

frequency system could be up to 20 times shorter than the lower frequency system due to Rayleigh

scattering.

Mie scattering is similar to Rayleigh scattering in that the scattered light is of the same

frequency as the incident light. However, the distribution of the scattered light is different for Mie

scattering because of a larger scattering particle size (roughly of the same order of magnitude as the

wavelength of the incident light).


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Figure illustrates the differences between Rayleigh and Mie scattering for an incident light

which hits a particle from left to right. For Rayleigh scattering, the intensity of the scattered light is

largely uniform, except for the scatter at right angles to the incident light, which is half the intensity

of the forward scatter intensity. In Mie scattering, the intensity of the scattered light is greatest in the

direction of the incident light. This difference increases with the size of the scattering particle.

Therefore, the loss of source light intensity due to scattering actually decreases with an increase in

the scattering particle size.

Therefore, FSO transmissions in the near-infrared band are scattered substantially by fog and

clouds which have water droplets that are approximately of the same order of magnitude as its

wavelength. However, FSO is less affected by rain, because the size of rain drops are much larger.

Recall that it was explained through Figure that microwave frequencies are less affected by the

absorption of atmospheric gases. However, the wavelength of microwave transmissions are of the

same order of magnitude as rain drops. Therefore, microwave transmissions, especially those offrequencies above 11 GHz, are greatly scattered by rain.

c. Dispersion

Dispersion is the process by which an electromagnetic signal propagating in a physical

medium is degraded because the various wave components (i.e. frequencies) of the signal have

different propagation velocities within the physical medium. As explained earlier in this report,

practical lasers do not just emit one frequency, but a small range of frequencies. Dispersion therefore

causes a laser signal to spread across time.

Dispersion can also occur in an ideal laser transmission (i.e. a laser which only emits one

single frequency). If such an ideal laser beam passes through a uniform medium, the entire beam is

slowed but the pattern of phases still moves together. In a non-uniform medium of different densities

and temperatures, however, some parts of the beam are slowed more than others, leading to

distortions in the uniform wave front (i.e. dispersion).

Figure illustrates dispersion effects on a rectangular source pulse. The received signal would

have a lower peak power than the source because of the spreading. The attenuated signal needs to be

higher than some arbitrarily set threshold so that a 1 signal can be differentiated from a 0.


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The received signal is also spread across time. This poses a limitation on the data rate that can

be transmitted. This is illustrated in Figure 30, where the source is trying to send a pulse train to the

receiver.

Because of the overlap in the received signal, the receiver will not be able to separate the

pulses and the pulse train would be incorrectly interpreted by the receiver as a long period of a high

(1) signal.

Spatiall y Diverse Redundant L inks

A redundant link which has been separated in space from the primary link is not seen as an

effective solution against atmospheric conditions. This is because weather conditions which cover

either the transmitter or the receiver will hinder all links going in or out of these transceivers.

However, there are still scenarios where spatially diverse links can effectively provide alternate

routes for communication.

Figure shows an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) trying to send data to its mother ship via

an FSO link. However, the mother ship is engulfed in fog, so not only is its direct link blocked by the

fog, a redundant link via a satellite would also not be able to be transmitted to the mother ship.


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If the atmospheric condition only blocks one of the redundant links, then the alternate link

may be used to transmit data. Figure 35 shows a reconnaissance plane which is flying above some

thick clouds that block its direct laser path to the mother ship. However, it is able to use a satellite to

transmit its data since the path between the satellite and the mother ship is not blocked.

LINE-OF-SIGHT OBSTRUCTIONS

Like all line-of-sight links (e.g. microwave radio), FSO links may be obstructed by objects

such as buildings, trees and planes. However, because of the small beam and high data rates typical

of FSO links, FSO links may also be affected by smaller objects like birds.


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Error correction is seen as the most effective solution against temporal obstructions like

flying birds. However, spatially diverse links should be employed when obstructions are expected to

occur for extended periods of time. Figure shows an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) whose direct

link to its mother ship is blocked by some trees. However, it is still able to send data to its mother

ship via satellite.

a brief history of free space optical communications

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